Guangchu Hotel Zhanjiang

What is it about the beautiful rhythm of the rice terraces that is so mesmerising? The village itself is very attractive with old woodent buildings but it is the everchanging terraces that are breathtaking.

The terraces are quite high and the ...

... and body language are getting us through many conversations. Another adventure is meal times as we wait to see what will appear on the table for us to choose from! Ken is surviving on rice, steamed fish and a little steak and Sheila is enjoying the many flavours and trying so many different tastes.

Tomorrow we head off for four days in Gulin with a group of 7 other travellers - we are looking forward to be seeing more of China.

Shanghai to Hong Kong

This was one of the easiest trips to make that it was well worth the money saved by not flying directly to HK. The problem with the pricing is that, being not classed as a 'domestic flight' for complicated reasons, the price difference would have been
Shanghai Pudong - Shenzhen - 890 Yuan
Shanghai Pudong - HK Intl - 1900 Yuan approx
Difference of over £100!!

So I took the Maglev train ...

... got up in the dark the morning of New Years Eve & headed off to Wuhan airport for the 1st leg of my journey. As there were no direct flights to Malaysia from Wuhan, I flew to Haikou which is the capital of Hainan (a tropical island at the southern tip of China). I sat next to a very young couple who had just got married & were flying to Hainan for their honeymoon. Just when I was feeling all lovey-dovey for them, I looked over to see a woman staring at me like I was from outer space ...

We left Ha Long Bay this morning and continued east and entered China. We are at a stop over and will head to the docks in Macau to send our trucks home tomorrow. We are 577 kilometers from there and the Avalanche is ready to go home and it has done its job and carried us about 6,000 miles in 30 days with little or no trouble. We will head tomorrow ...

... kirjotetaan kysymys "are you like finnish sukkahousu". En kyl oikeen ymmartany mita tolla yritettiin kysyy... Tallaisissa merkeissa meni loppu 6 tuntia matkasta. Ennen kuin poistuin junasta Maomingin asemalle annoin naille Kiinalaisille pulon brandya jonka olin joskus mennyt kiireessa ostamaan. Silloin olin luullut sita viiniksi. Jokatapauksessa se vei rinkassani aivan liikaa tilaa eika se paljon mitaan maksanut. Sainpahan taas joukon pienia Kiinalaisia iloisiksi.

Huoneessani oli kaksi ihmista Mark austraaliasta ja joku Hollantilainen tytto joka lahti aika pian Sanyalle. Tytto sanoi etta taalla ei ole mitaan mielenkiintoista kun kysyin etta miksi lahdet sinne. Totesin saman ihan itsekkin. En loytanyt rantaa paikasta ollenkaan. Eika muutenkaan ollut oikein miaan nahtavaa paikassa. Joten paatin itsekkin kokeilla Sanyaa seuraavana paivana. Otin paivalla pienet torkut. Kun herasin Mark kysyi etta kiinnostaisiko ...

We are arriving in Haikou with our minds full of interesting and beautiful memories from the landscape around the highway. Here we are meeting Ella and her friend from the Company, Jessie, who also speaks English. In a hall with many computers employees are working with different tourist project in contact with many countries. Most of them are young girls in intensive work,everyone with a smile on her face. I am very glad to meet Ella after two years as her ...

We did a bus-ride around the town, intending to get off at the fish-market, but realizing too late that we had already passed it. We stayed on the bus until it returned to the stop where we had picked it up, leaving the bus driver bemused at the strange sight of the crazy foreigners taking a trip to nowhere. Taking the local buses is actually a good way to see a wider area of the town, except when they are packed to the brim with sweaty ...

... which sounded good but over-priced. After spending most of the day at Silver Beach we went back to explore the town further. Having eaten so well for lunch we decided to see what the Gofar Paris Hotel had to offer. We had actually tried to go there for Christmas dinner the night before, but the restaurant was closed for the hotel's own private party. It turned out to be a dim-sum meal, packed with locals. We took several dishes from the passing trolleys ...